Americans turn to online videos — Online video sharing sites are reaping the benefits of the ongoing writers' strike in the US. — According to net measurement firm Nielsen Online, some online video sites have doubled their audience since the strike began at the end of October.

Increased use of video-sharing sites — 48% of internet users have been to video-sharing sites such as YouTube and the daily traffic to such sites on a typical day has doubled in the past year. The basic findings in a national phone survey that ended in December show:

MICROSOFT DEAL KING TO LAUNCH OWN FIRM — One of Microsoft's chief deal architects is leaving the software giant to start his own firm. — Bruce Jaffe - currently vice president of corporate development for Microsoft - plans to vacate his post at the end of February.

Network Solutions amends Net registration process — Network Solutions, a dominant registrar of Internet sites, has stepped back from some controversial elements of a new registration process. — Network Solutions had implemented some changes in an attempt to curtail “front-running,” …

Ask.com names new CEO, president — Ask.com CEO Jim Lanzone is quitting after six years with the company, to join a venture capital firm. His replacement, Jim Safka, currently heads Primal Ventures, the venture capital division of Ask.com's parent company IAC.

Facebook futures — Regular commentator Bill Thompson ruminates on the inevitability of Facebook being in the news in 2008 — The coming year is not going to be a comfortable one for Facebook. — It might just manage to avoid upsetting its users with new services such as Beacon …

Semantic Web: What Is The Killer App? — The Semantic Web has been in the making for some time and people think it is nearing maturity. We have written about this trend extensively, with our two most notable posts being an analysis of the challenges of the classic bottom-up approach and the promise of the new top-down one.

Exciting Changes Coming Your Way — We think you'll be happy to know about improvements we're making to your Office Live Small Business service—especially since many of the suggestions came from customers like you. (And we thank you for that!) — You'll find enhancements across all three …

Steal This Wi-Fi — Whenever I talk or write about my own security setup, the one thing that surprises people — and attracts the most criticism — is the fact that I run an open wireless network at home. There's no password. There's no encryption. Anyone with wireless capability …

New York Launches Intel Antitrust Probe — The New York attorney general has launched a formal investigation to determine whether Intel violated antitrust laws to squeeze out AMD. — Recommend this story? — NEW YORK (Reuters) - The office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo …

What's the best Web site for geotagged photos? — Readers of this blog will have inferred I'm a fan of geotagging—in fact, I'm trying to label all my photos with the tags that show where the picture was taken, even though the geotagging process is complicated.

3 Important Facebook Updates Coming Soon — Here's a quick look at some important Facebook updates that are expected to launch in 1Q 08: — 1) Friend Lists Privacy Controls — A few weeks ago, Facebook took the first step toward enabling more efficient friend management with the release of Friend Lists.

Trent Reznor favors an ISP ‘tax on music’ — Very early in a discussion with Trent Reznor, the front man for the band Nine Inch Nails, it's obvious how highly he prizes his collaboration with musician Saul Williams on the album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust.

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